


The Awkward Rumbelle Ficlets

by TriplePirouette



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Awkward Sexual Situations, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-15
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2017-11-16 09:31:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriplePirouette/pseuds/TriplePirouette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle and Rumple fumble around one another, trying to move their relationship forward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Belle sat in her room, hand ghosting over her lips. They felt… tingly. Warm. Just a little plumper, perhaps. Her jaw ached, too, and she couldn’t quite figure out why. 

He was just down the hall, making quiet sounds in the big, empty house as he got ready for bed. Beside her there was an old shirt he’d given her to use as a night gown, her bare feet played in the pile of the rug beneath her feet. She bit the edge of her thumbnail, wondering for just a moment before she stood, walking purposefully out into the hall and out the door…

…falling right into Rumpelstiltskin who had been standing at her door, his hand poised up to knock. She tripped into him, unable to stop her momentum, and sent then wheeling back into the wall across the hall behind them. He dropped his cane but caught her, their bodies crashing and hands flailing as they sought to right themselves. 

Her eyes widened, apologies spilling out before he stopped her with a finger to her lips. “No need, love.” He smiled at her. “Did you need something?” His hands slid over her shoulders, making sure she hadn’t hurt herself as they finally stood face to face. 

“No, I-” Belle blushed and turned away, “It was silly, I’ll just-” She shrugged and tried to turn, but he held her in place. 

He licked his lips, caressing her arm under his fingers. “Not silly if you want it, dearie. What is it?”

She bit her lip, small and shy all of a sudden. “A goodnight kiss?” A tiny giggle coming out after her request. 

He smirked, “Not silly at all, my dear.” He moved forward, but they both turned the same way, noses bumping. With a wink he pulled away and turned to go the other way, but she had the same idea and matched him again, this time a bark of laughter coming from her. He reached up, holding her in place as he leaned close, kissing her softly but thoroughly. 

She looked down when he pulled away, her lips tingling even more and realization dawning as to why they felt the way they did, and why her jaw so suddenly hurt. No one had ever told her kisses were hard work, or that she might need a break from them to recover, but if she wanted to spend tomorrow kissing him, she better well not kiss him any more tonight. 

“Goodnight,” she whispered, backing away through her door. She smiled at him, holding his gaze until she saw his expression change and his arm reach out the split second before her foot stepped back over the high hee’s she’d left on the floor, tripping her up until she sprawled on her rear end in the middle of her bedroom. 

He scrambled to her side, helping her up, but the only thing wounded was her pride. “I think I better go to bed before I trip over something else.” 

He held her hand, walking her over to the mattress before kissing her knuckles. “Goodnight, Belle.” 

She watched him leave, sitting on her bed with her fingers to her lips as he shut the door behind him as he left. Belle thought she’d read every romance novel in their old kingdom. She had been sure she knew everything there was to know about kissing, but it seemed she was wrong. If there were things about kissing she didn’t know, like which way to turn her head or that her lips would tingle and her jaw would ache, what else didn’t she know about what was to happen between men and women? 

First thing in the morning, there was research to be done. 


	2. Auricle

Belle screeched and he pulled away faster than he thought was humanly possible. One second he’d been delighting in the warmth of her skin, making his way up her neck and scraping his teeth over her earlobe and the next she screeched like she’d been doused with cold water.

“What is it?” He asked, eyes wide as his hands roamed over her, searching for an injury or bug bite or anything that could suggest why in the gods names she would have cried out like that. He can’t see anything, straddled as she is across his lap, the straps of her dress pulled over her shoulders and riding low on her chest and more creamy flesh on display than he’s seen yet even though she’s fully clothed and she’s got half his shirt unbuttoned with his tie somewhere across the room and he’s genuinely concerned and…

…she’s giggling.

Giggling, with her nose scrunched up, looking at him as if he’s done something weird and silly. “What? What is it, Belle?”

She laughed at him, full out guffaws. She tried to form a sentence, but ended up laughing again. He leaned back into the red leather chair, waiting until she laughed herself out. “You- you stuck your tongue in my ear!” It sent her back into fits of giggles.

He stared at her, his jaw wide open. His hands flew before him as replies and rebuttals died on his lips. It was supposed to be sexy. Just… just a swipe. He’d seen it. Well, read about it. Well, he thought he’d read about it.

She’d liked the teeth on the earlobe thing, hadn’t she? He watched her laugh, unsure. She had rocked into him, pressing closer and moaning, or at lease he thought that was what she was doing. Maybe she’d been trying not to laugh.

Or the… the kissing up her neck? Yes, yes, he thought, that she’d definitely liked. Probably. No, definitely. Or maybe only probably. His hands fell to his lap, his desire waning as her giggles died down then ramped up again as another thought hit her.

“What… what did it taste like?”

She was off on another fit of giggles again, and he couldn’t just sit there any longer. He lifted her slight form, moving her to the side and standing.

“Wait, Rum! Rum!” Belle called after him, still giggling from the chair, curling in on herself. “Don’t, don’t go. If you’re hungry, I can make you a sandwich!”

He grasped his cane, turning to the door.

“Aww, Rum, don’t be sore!” He turned back to her, trying to hid his embarrassment in tight lips. She held her composure for just a second before she burst into giggles again. “But it tickled!”

He shook his head, sighing as he left, her giggles sweet music to his ears and a kick to the gut all at the same time. He could swear he’d read it somewhere.  


	3. Manicure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by DDAgent, Trick Or Treated for by keenquing: Gold needs to cut his nails

He was amazed at how well things were going tonight. It had been a calm day, a nice day, and it ended with them cuddling together on the couch.

Cuddling that had, quite quickly, turned to heated rubbing and wandering hands. His hand slipped under her skirt, sliding his knuckles along her inner thigh as he slid his tongue over hers, their kisses and touches getting more insistent as his hand roamed higher.

His fingers were drifting her soft skin, her hands clutching at his shoulders when she squeaked and jumped back from his touch. Dazed, he stared as her eyes widened. “What? What is it, sweetheart?” He hadn’t actually touched her… there. He thought about it for a moment, but knew he hadn’t crossed that boundary yet. She still could have pulled away because they’d gone too far, but that hadn’t been what her squeak had sounded like.

He reached out, smoothing down her hair as her fingers slid up her thigh and under her skirt to where his hands just were. “I don’t know it felt like…”

He tried not to focus on how deliciously rumpled she looked, or how much more creamy leg was on display, or how, if he tilted his head down just a bit, he’d be able to see the edge of the lacy panties he’d almost touched.

Belle pulled her hand out of her skirt, her face contorting with confusion and frustration. “I’m bleeding!”

That snapped him out of his reverie, his hand pulling hers closer and looking at the tiny smear of blood across her fingertips. “What? How?”

He pulled her closer, sliding his hand up her thigh until he saw it, a scratch at the top of her inner thigh, drips of blood welling to the shallow wound. “You scratched me?” Belle cried out, pulling his hands from her leg until she found the offending hangnail on his pointer finger. She shoved it up into his face, the tiny edge sitting at a jaunty angle to the rest of his nail. “You scratched me!”

He stared at his hand in disbelief, the offending digit fascinating him as Belle reached down, smearing the blood on her thigh as she tried to stop it. She stood, holding her hand to her leg as she limped out of the room. “Belle? Where are you going?”

She turned back just past the door, still confused and in some state of disbelief. “I’m… bleeding. I have to…” She shrugged and walked away, the bathroom light clicking on and lighting up the hallway before the door shut.

With a bite of his teeth, the hangnail snapped away from his nail. He flicked it off his tongue with a finger and looked at the tiny sliver. He supposed he should try to be serious about it, after all he had marred the soft skin of Belle’s beautiful thigh, but he wanted to laugh.

He stood, limping to the bathroom door and knocking. “Sweetheart, are you alright?”

She swung the door open, clad in her blue satin robe, and slipped the edge away from her thigh with a cheeky smile to reveal a bright yellow smiley faced bandage over the injury. “Would you like to kiss it better?”

He was on his knees, lips pressed to the bandage and creamy skin surrounding it, in seconds.


	4. The Favor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Non-sexy, Rumple edition

Emma stood as Mr. Gold walked into the station, his jaw held tight and tension pervading his body. “Mr. Gold,” she greeted him warily, “what brings you into the sheriff’s office today?”

He cleared his throat, gripping his cane convulsively. “Miss Swan, I do believe, if you recall, you owe me a favor.”

 

Emma’s eyes narrowed at him as she stepped closer. He was hovering by the door and it made her nervous. “I do,” she replied cooly, slowly. “Ready to call that one in?”

He bit back a smile. “Not quite the way I expected to call it in, but yes.” He nodded, trying very hard to keep his stately composure. “Yes, I’m here to ask you for a favor, and… for your discretion.”

Now he was making her wary. “Gold, a favor is a favor, but I’m not doing anything illegal or-”

He laughed, full out guffawed. “Oh no, nothing illegal, I assure you. It’s simply something that as much as it pains me to admit, I am not comfortable doing, nor do I have much more than cursory knowledge of the subject. Your discretion would be appreciated to save face for all parties involved, including yourself.”

It was amazing how quickly he could get her off balance, so she just shrugged, huffing out a sigh and waiting for him to drop some kind of bomb on her. “Ok, fine. I’ll be discrete. What is-” Before she could finish he turned, slipping back out the door. “Gold?” She called after him, but he didn’t answer. After a second, though, Belle stepped into the door, looking just as confused as Emma felt. “Belle? Where’d Gold go?”

Belle looked back out the door, something akin to frustration and anger on her face. “He said he’d be back in ten minutes.”

Emma tossed up her hands, moving to stand by Belle. “Well, do you know what he wanted?”

Belle looked at the other woman, biting her lip, nervousness sneaking into her expression. “Well, we were at home, and I was reading this magazine that Ruby gave me and I asked him a question and all of a sudden we were in the car and he said that you’d explain it to me.” She shrugged, wide blue eyes at once perplexed and serene.

“Oh.” Emma still didn’t quite know what to say, but figured that this was probably whatever Gold had wanted, though why he called in his favor for some help with the modern world still perplexed her. “Alright, then, what did you want to know?”

Belle shrugged, pulling a shiny magazine page from her pocket with a smiling girl and the ocean on it and handing it to Emma. Before Belle’s mouth even opened Emma completely understood why Gold had brought her. “What’s a tampon for?”


	5. Reading Material

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompted by sfgirl18 and thenewrapunzel: Belle finds his playboy stash and he uses the age old excuse of reading it for the articles.

Gold was horrified when he finally found Belle. She was sitting on his bed, the lamp beside her on and magazines spread all across the comforter.

His magazines.

Magazines that he’d hidden in the bottom drawer of his dresser beneath his rarely used clothes.

“Belle…?” Her name squeaked out of his throat, his hand tightening on his cane as he stared at the half dozen issues of Playboy spread out on his bed, the cover model on the issue in her hands staring back at him accusingly.

She didn’t move, kept her eyes glued to whatever she was looking at. His palms were sweaty, his heart pounded in his chest while he waited. “Do… do you read these?” Belle asked, her eyes never looking up.

He hovered in the door, unsure of where to go. “I… yes. Read. I read them. The articles are… very well written.” It wasn’t a lie, not really. He’d read each and every word in every issue, had looked at all of the pictures, had sought out each and every little scrap of advice on how to be a better lover, a better man, to fulfill every desire of his true love. It still seemed like an awful answer and he couldn’t keep the rest of the words from tumbling out of his mouth. “The pictures. I don’t look at them. No. But the articles. That magazine is known for it’s… really well written articles.”

At this Belle looked up, her tongue peaking out of her lips. “Well, the pictures are quite… naughty. But the articles are fabulous!” Gold looked at her, his eyes wide, sure that she had not said what he thought she had just said. She should be yelling, telling him that it was filth and trash and disgusting, and maybe even sobbing thinking he wanted the thin girls with the fake breasts and yet she was just… sitting there. Smiling.

His jaw shivered as he stammered out his words. “You- y-you read the articles?”

She was momentarily stunned when she opened a centerfold, looked at it sideways, then flicked past it and smiled up at him. “All of them. I mean, well, I still have to get through the ‘College Girls across the US’ issue, and I’m only halfway done with, what’s this?” She flicked back to the front and stared at the cover, “Oh yes, the Awesome Autumn Asses issue, though I have yet to see a donkey in this one at all.”

He limped closer to be bed, wincing as the naked and half naked forms of airbrushed models stared back at him from his bed. “You’re not… upset?”

She dropped the magazine in front of her, standing and rounding the bed. “Of course not! These are so much more informative than those magazines Ruby lent me!” She let her hands slide up his arms, resting on his shoulders. “I really wasn’t snooping, but I ran out of socks and the floor was cold and I saw them and then I started reading them. Are you mad?”

Belle bit her lip, worry wrinkling up her nose. He could do nothing but lean down and kiss its tip, slipping down to gently kiss her lips after. “No, no I’m not mad. I told you, all I have is yours.” He let his cane rest against the bed, wrapping his arms around her and sighing contentedly. “I’ll get rid of them in the morning.”

She shook her head, confusion slipping over her face. “You don’t have to. I told you, I… Well, if you don’t want me to read them anymore, I won’t.”

“They’re trash, Belle. I should never have bought them. Most women would be scandalized to find these, upset and mad.” He shook his head, his eyes not quite able to reach hers.

“Do I look like most women?” She shook her head with a little laugh as she reached out and snagged the cheerleader issue. “Do these even look like most women?” Belle shrugged, flipping through the magazine in front of him. “Were both… a bit lost at this. That’s plain to see now. These are… at least… sort of informative.” She laughed, tossed the magazine back on the bed and leaned her forehead against his chest. “You have these for the same reason I have half a dozen back issues of Cosmo and Glamour and Vogue under my bed.” She leaned up and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Maybe we should stop hiding the fact that we’re… nervous, and figure it out together.”

His hand reached up, tangling in the hair that framed her face before brushing it back behind her ear. “Together sounds like a much better option to me.”


	6. Passanger Seat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by Princess-swan and gingerwhovianrobotskeleton: can you write about mr. Gold trying to teach Belle how to Drive?

Charming and Ruby stood on the sidewalk, watching the Cadillac stutter slowly up the street. “I really just don’t get it,” Charming mused out loud, standing tall and akimbo in front of the diner.

Ruby just smiled. “I think it’s sweet. You know, he’s basically bending over backwards to make her happy, even when it makes him uncomfortable.”

Charming looked down at her. “You never met him back in our world, Ruby. If you knew what he was like…”

Ruby looked up at her friend, somber. “I know what he was like. There are things about me that you don’t know, you know.” She sighed, watching as Belle’s hands lifted from the wheel, fluttering about her face, flustered. Gold reached over and grabbed the wheel, quickly taking control of the vehicle, even if the the car never got over five miles an hour. “It’s why I think this is all the more, well, it’s frankly adorable. We all know the stories about the evil Rumpelstiltskin, but there’s obviously a lot more to him.”

They were quiet for a moment as they watched Gold coax Belle to put her hands back on the wheel. “You know,” Charming started, his voice a little softer, “he told me once about a love he thought he lost. I thought he was playing me, couldn’t believe that anyone could love him or that he could truly love anyone, but maybe…”

“Maybe what?” Ruby asked, shoving her hands in her pockets as the Cadillac took a turn towards attempting to park.

Charming sighed, wincing as the car bounced against the curb and into a parking meter. He could almost hear Belle’s screech. He watched, fascinated, as Gold reached over, shifted the car into park and turned it off before taking Belle’s hands in his, wrapping her tightly in an embrace against him and rocking back and forth as she shook. “Maybe there really is more to him than we all thought. Maybe a lot more.”


	7. What Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by by somethingstately and WonderTwinC: Gold gets a cramp in his bad leg.

It had taken them so very, very long to get here, but it was worth it. Every shy glance, every fumbled touch, every sloppy kiss was absolutely worth it. She was half naked, under him, drowning in the soft sheets of his bed beneath her and the heady smell of his after shave above her. He was kissing her neck, his hands roaming over her hips and tugging at the waistband of her black pants.

She moaned as his teeth slipped over her skin, tiny kisses following the sharp sensation. She had his shirt unbuttoned and slipped her hands beneath, sliding against his chest and up over his shoulders. He shuddered over her and she grasped at him tighter, pulling his head up to hers for a kiss.

He nearly collapsed on her, but the slight weight of his body felt delicious covering her. She ran her hands up his jaw and through his hair as she claimed his mouth, searching out that delicious sensation as their tongues slid together. She didn’t have much knowledge on this subject, but what little she had grew every day and she loved being with Rumpelstiltskin in every way possible, including the physical.

He kissed her back with less fervor than before; his kisses were softer but his body was tense. Belle thought that maybe he was nervous, they had, after all, never gone any farther than this, and she intended to rectify that tonight. She lifted her leg and wrapped it around his hip, her toes caressing his calf over and over in what she hoped was a soothing motion.

This time, he didn’t just tense, he flinched. His whole body went rigid mid-kiss. When Belle pushed him back, she was unprepared for the look of pain on his face. He tried to hide it, schooled his features in a split second, but she’d still seen it. “What, what’s wrong?” She asked, pushing his hair back from his face and squirming back to look him in the eyes.

His smile was fake, the same one she’d sen him use around town a thousand times. “Nothing, sweetheart.” He tried to lean down to claim her lips again, but she pushed him back. She watched as he leaned to the left, taking the weight off the right side of his body. It wasn’t much of a movement, but it was there.

Belle pushed him back far enough so she could focus on his whole face, her thumb stroking over his chin. “It wasn’t nothing. Tell me.”

She could see the indecision in his eyes. She loved his human face, the way that it could play the silly expressions like his former self and the way it softened with emotion in a way that his scaled face never seemed to manage. “Nothing to tell,” he said, leaning away from her touch to nuzzle against her throat. “Don’t think, Belle. We’ve done far too much of that.”

His voice was dark and husky, full of need and she let it slide. She couldn’t object again, not with the warmth of his skin against hers, the silk of his shirt sliding on the edges of her flesh, the bulge in his pants hitting that one spot. She ground tight against him, her leg tightening around his knee.

This time his leg spasmed, kicking out as he ground his teeth tight in a moan. She sat up, rolling Rumple to the side. He couldn’t hide his pain now though he was trying valiantly. “I knew there was something! Why didn’t you tell me?”

His hands reached down, thumbs rubbing over the thigh muscle above his knee. “I was trying to ignore it, myself.” He sighed, sitting and stretching his leg out with a wince. “Not exactly an optimal time to just take a break.”

Belle sighed, sliding next to him and adding her hand to the kneading around his knee. “I think any time you’re in pain is a very optimal time to stop.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “Does it hurt very much?”

“Not generally,” he mumbled, flexing his knee and foot up then stretching them out again. “Though the cold, rainy weather lately hasn’t helped.” With a resigned sigh he let the truth slip, “Today has been bad.”

“Aw,” she crooned and let her hand play with his over the muscle, kissing his neck softly. “My poor thing.” Belle snuggled closer, rubbing his back with her free hand as she leaned into him. “Is… is it something that happened here? I don’t remember you having a limp.”

“I didn’t.” His hands slowed, rubbing up and down his thigh now even as her fingers still dug into his knee. “It’s from before I took the curse. When I was the Dark One it was never a problem.”

She nodded against his shoulder and they fell quiet. After a few more minutes of rubbing he took her hand from his knee and leaned them back onto the blankets. “I fear a repeat performance is inevitable if we try again.” His eyes turned down, sad and reluctant.

She lifted his chin, smiling. “Then a cuddle will be plenty for now. Unless you want me to get you something for it? Medicine? A hot water bottle?”

He pulled her closer, their skin sliding against one another as he reached around to hold her to him. “Just you, dearie.”

Belle kissed him softly before snuggling under his chin. “Will you tell me? How it happened?”

He sighed sadly, his nose nudging at her hair line and his breath warm on her skin. “It’s not a pretty story, dearie.”

“Doesn’t matter if it’s pretty,” her fingers trailed over his chest in small calming swirls, “what matters is that it is yours, and that makes it important to me.” She felt his smile against her skin, and the kiss he planted on her forehead was gentle.

“A very long time ago, the first Ogre War broke out…”  


	8. In Position

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by somethingstatelyand myluckyace: Problems with positions.

**Lying face to face on their side**

“Um, Rum, I-”

“What dear?”

“Are you comfortable?”

“With you in my arms I always am.”

“Well, that’s sweet and all, but… I have an awkward arm.”

“Not a bone in your body is awkward, darling.”

“No, no, I mean in this position. My, my left arm is just like, stuck between us and it can’t… there’s nothing for it to do but annoy me.”

“Oh, well, what if you- Is that better?”

“Sort of but…”

“How about that?”

“No, still awkward.”

“Wait, what if you hold me and then… Oh. Yeah. I get. That’s really awkward, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah it is.”

**Rum on top**

“Stop.”

“But Belle…”

“No, no. I saw that flinch.”

“There was no flinch.”

“It’s your knee and that’s fine!”

“My knee is perfect now- Ow!”

“Told you.”

“No, let’s just keep…”

“You are not fine and I’m not going to let you hurt yourself.”

“I am not going to- Ow! Stop poking me!”

“I did not poke, I nudged, and if it hurts that much, we’re stopping.”

“But-”

“Stopping.”

“Fine.”

**Belle on Top**

“Like this?”

“Oh yes, sweetheart, that’s lovely.”

“So then, I just… I just move?”

“Yes, up and down, love.”

“Like, bounce?”

“Well not really a- Too hard, too hard!”

“Sorry! I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

“I’m not a bouncy castle, love.”

“Oh, I don’t know what that is, but it sounds fun.”

**Doggie Style, with Rum standing**

“No, I’m sorry, this, just no.”

“Alright.”

“No. I read this story once, about a cowboy who fell in love with a bar maid. He didn’t think she’d ever love him back, so he went and had sex with a prostitute and they had sex like this so he could’t see her face and you can’t see my face and-”

“No was enough, dearie.”

**69**

“No, you stay on your back. Do we have to stop before we start?”

“No, Belle, but I want you to enjoy this.”

“I will if you would stop complaining and just lay down.”

“Not complaining.”

“Good. Now, if I understand this right I should put this leg here…”

“Wait, hold on, your knee is on my hair.”

“Sorry. Better?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Good, so…”

“Belle… I can’t reach you, can you move back?”

“Muuph.”

“Sweetheart, don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Oops. Yeah. Ok, Better?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, but then I can’t reach you, either.”

“….Are you really that much shorter than me?”

“Not funny, Rum.”

**CosmoSutra**

“The Love Seat?”

“Won’t work with my knee. Bed Spread?”

“I need to see your face. The Erotic Roller Coaster?”

“You’re not allowed on top anymore. The Lusty Leg Lift?”

“What in the world makes you think I can do that?”

“We’re running out of choices here, and this one sure as hell isn’t going to work.”

“The Erotic Accordion? How does that… Wow… I don’t… Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

“Ruby has more of these. I’ll borrow them the next time I see her. There’s got to be one that we can do.”

“I’m sure of it, darling.”

“Seriously, though? I can’t be on top anymore?”

“We tried. Three times. I am not a trampoline.”


	9. Feathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For mydarling-belle: Belle wants to be literal lovebirds for Halloween. She puts feathers on their heads and paints on red cockatiel cheeks.

Gold was dreaming.

He was naked.

He was chained. And his Belle was standing over him, teasing him with a long marabou feather on a slim leather cane. She’d tickle his elbows and knees, then take her time sliding the feater up his sides.

But for some odd reason, she always came back to his nose.

He tried to ignore it, he tried to focus on her beautiful face, or the way her body fit int the skin tight leather dress, or how the feather felt on his skin. It didn’t work, though.

He awoke with a sneeze, not quick enough to cover his face. He blinked open his eyes, staring at Belle who sat sprawled on the floor in front of him, surprise in her eyes. “Oh, you’re awake!” Her voice was high and tight and she scrambled to her knees as a nervous smile took over her face.

He pushed up in bed, twitching his nose and trying to alleviate the tickling he still felt. “And you’re in my room. Watching me sleep, dearie?” He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, but something was very wrong. She was twitching, shifting her weight between her pajama clad legs, holding her hands behind her back. Realization dawned with a smile: he’d caught her at something. “What are you doing in my room, sweetheart?”

“Nothing! Nothing! I was just-” As she stood to try to escape, a handful of bright pink feather slipped out from behind her, drifting to the floor. She froze, her eyes wide as she bit her lip, looking between him and the feathers.

Gold sat up, trying his best not to laugh. “I”m all ears, dear. Feathers?”

Belle shrugged, her nose scrunching up in the way that he found so endearing, her eyes full of mischief and yet a little worried at what he might think. “Well, you see, Mary Margaret is having a party, and the best couple costume wins a prize.” He folded his hands in his lap, waiting. When she said nothing more he simply pointed. “Oh, well, I thought they’d be different. You know, stand out.”

The shocking pink of the craft feathers certainly stood out, and now he knew why his nose itched so much. She’d probably been holding them up to his face, or seeing if she could lace them in his hair. He ran a hand over his scalp, but found no feathers. He only felt some tight clumps, knots that had surely come from tossing and turning in the night. “And what were we to be in these… feathers?”

She scrunched her nose again, looking down and digging her toe into the floor. “Lovebirds?”

He had many, many things to say about that. If she suspected for one moment that he’d go out in public in anything less than a suit in this town, she was sadly mistaken. He stalled, trying to gather his thoughts and finally reached up to scratch his nose.

He got one scratch in, and found his finger was stuck to his skin. He closed his hand down, and the problem only got worse. “Belle?” He tried to keep calm, but the frustration seeped through in his voice. “What’s on my nose?”

She bit her lip, slowly backing away. “Well, you see, I tried making masks at first, but… well, they didn’t look right. So I tried to glue them to your face, and in your hair, but the feathers weren’t sticking.”

“Belle…”

She kept babbling, pulling on his wrist only to find that his hand was well and good stuck. It wasn’t moving. “It said anything sticks, so I thought I just got a bad bottle when the feathers wouldn’t stick. And I know it’s made a mess of your hair, but the shampoo should take that out, shouldn’t it?”

It was hard, trying to keep his voice even and calm, but he managed it. “What. Did. You. Use?”

She reached down and showed him the little round bottle with the pointed tip, the clear glue oozing from the opening. “It’s something called Krazy Glue.” She stammered, putting it on the bedside table and reaching over again, but he pulled away to keep her from getting stuck to him, too. “It’ll come off, right?”

He sighed, Throwing his legs over the side of the bed and standing carefully. “It’s not made to, my dear, so I guess we’ll find out together.” 


	10. Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by 0ceanofdarkness: Trying to be sexy for Rum, Belle falls off the bed.

She had everything ready: candles, soft music, sexy lingerie. She’d followed the magazine’s instructions to the letter and now all she had to do was wait for Rumpelstiltskin to come home.

Belle picked at the lacy teddy. She’d felt naughty when she ordered it, even more so when she’d first tried it on after it arrived at their door, but now she just felt awkward, trying to keep the lace from creasing and splitting and the hips from riding up into places that she was sure it wasn’t designed to go. The thin chiffon robe that came with it did almost nothing against the fall chill in the room, but she wrapped at around her anyway.

She sat on the bed, rehearsing the scene in her mind.

_He’d come home, tired and weary, to the smell of a fresh pie in the oven. He’d look for her, but she’d be nowhere to be found. He’d slip up the stairs, quiet and stealthy as he was, to find her laid out on the bed, her hair flowing behind her on the pillow, legs tucked at a seductive angle, the satin and lace of her teddy tight against her skin._

_He’d blanch, but smile. He’d limp over slowly, covering her lips with his. He’d have no excuses anymore, she’d have no reservations. With lit candles all around them and soft strains of classical music they’d meld together and fall apart. He’d be her first, she’d be his last. They’d be together in every way possible._

“Belle?”

His voice jolted her awake. She’d fallen asleep against the headboard as she thought of what was going to happen, but his voice scared her. She sat up fast, but she was too close to the edge of the bed. She felt herself start to topple over, saw Rum’s eyes go wide, but she could do nothing to stop herself. Belle reached out a desperate hand, but once she saw what she was grabbing for she tried to pul her arm in.

She fell from the bed in a heap, landing sideways on her hip with her feet in the air, the candle she’d almost grabbed tipping over and rolling over her belly and igniting the carpet near her head on fire.

She screamed, but Rum was by her side faster than she could imagine, pulling the duvet from the bed and stamping out the flames.

“Belle? Belle, are you all right?”

His hands clutched her arms as her eyes wildly roamed the still smoking carpet between them. “Yes,” she answered shakily, carefully standing as he helped her up. Her chin wavered as she looked at him. The concern and confusion on his face was not what she had wanted to see tonight at all. “I’m sorry, this wasn’t how this was supposed to go.”

He looked around the room as if he was seeing it for the first time. Perhaps he was, his expression changed so drastically. He turned back and looked her her, his hand drifting over her cheek and over the lacy strap on her shoulder. “I see. How was tonight supposed to go?”

The soft smirk on his face eased her nerves, and she smiled herself. “Well-”

Belle was cut off by a shrill, high pitched beep. They both startled, but Rum pulled away and sniffed the air carefully. “Belle, were you… cooking?”

Her eyes widened as she ran for the door. “My pie!”


	11. Layers Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silly and completely AU. Prompt by Anonymous with a special treat for Littleredridingwhale: Belle ends up wearing layers of petticoats.

When Rumpelstiltskin first showed Belle the fashions of this world, he thought she’d be happy. She was a beautiful woman with a beautiful body and gods knew she’d shown enough cleavage back in the Dark Castle.

What he never expected was that she wouldn’t feel comfortable.

She tried skirts. Pants. Jeans. He even bought her mounds of leggings and tights. Nothing felt right to her and she refused to be seen in public with her legs showing.

One night, when he finally got her to talk about it, she revealed a highly religious upbringing and that she’d always been taught that only her husband should ever see her knees. Ankles were rebellion enough for her, and anything that went past her calves caused a deep shame and pain in her.

Though she had no qualms about sharing the bounty of her chest, and gladly took to wearing push up bras. It still baffled him.

They finally found her long skirts, maxi dresses and wide legged pants that flowed around her legs and kept their shape from the world. She felt better, but not comfortable yet.

Not comfortable until one day, she surprised him at his shop. What she was wearing could have very well have come from their old world: stockings and a long, puffy skirt with a tight laced bodice. “Don’t you love it?”

He stared, coming around the counter to run his fingers over the fabric, throughly confused. “It’s lovely, but where did you find it?”

“I found this woman online, her name is Yaga, who will custom make clothes from different time periods in this world! She was a bit ornery on the phone, I can’t lie, but her work is exquisite! I already called her to commission another dress, but the best part?” Belle excitedly crooked a finger and lifted the edge of her skirt. “Three petticoats!”

Rum peaked down, his eyes wide. Though he didn’t have much experience with women, he wasn’t celibate. Over three hundred years old and he had never,  _never,_ seen so much fabric under a dress before. “Three?”

Belle dropped the edge of her dress and smiled like she was sharing the best secret in the world. “Oh, yes! And they all fasten differently and they’re nothing like the flimsy, tiny scraps of fabric called underwear here. Oh, Rum!” Belle sighed happily, hugging him tight. “I finally feel dressed now!”

Her happiness was infectious, but his heart sank into his stomach. He’d only just figured out how to undo a bra clasp in this world, and that had taken him far too long. Three separate petticoats? He sighed, he might never see her knees ever again. 


End file.
